MIN @ ATL
CLE @ CIN
BUF @ NYJ
TB @ TEN
ARI @ STL
HOU @ JAC
CAR @ IND
late
WAS @ SEA
CHI @ OAK
NE @ PHI
DEN @ SD
SNF/MNF
PIT @ KC
NYG @ NO
It’s weeks like this that I wish they spread the NFL games out more. It’d be great, if a scheduling mess, if we could get Thursday, Friday, and Saturday games… or maybe just more staggered games like 2 Monday night football games. I’d like to watch more football but you’re compressed into having to watch 10 games at the same time sunday morning. I like all the scattered games.
GB @ Detroit may actually be interesting this year, so that’s something.
Cle @ Cin will be interesting, I think. It’s not that I think the Browns are good, like I did the first time they played, it’s just that I don’t feel like Cinci can beat them very badly, so it’s going to be a close one that can go either way.
There’s going to be an incredible amount riding on the outcomes of the Raiders-Bears and Broncos-Chargers games in the afternoon Sunday. The Bears need to see what happens without Cutler and see if they can hold onto the Wildcard and someone needs to step up in the AFC West. The rest of the games kinda stink. GB-Det, Bal-SF and NO-NYG all have playoff implications on both sides but frankly the favorites in each will still be pretty much locked in even if they lose.
Beef you know as well as I do that the Browns v Bengals games are rarely blowouts and almost always have crazy and weird elements to them…which is what makes them fun (and interesting, as you say).
A Thanksgiving Lion’s game that matters? Sign me up! It should be an interesting game, and I’ll go out on a limb and say that whichever team makes less mistakes will win. The Packers and Lions are both capable of blowing themselves up, but they’re both capable of playing very well too. With the short week, I’m not sure either team will be playing their best though. If the Pack get a convincing win, I may have to pull out the dreaded “D” word.
49ers v. Ravens
I’ll probably have family stuff and miss the game, but two great defenses playing each other could be fascinating. Should be an interesting game, and the Harbaugh v. Harbaugh storyline is a nice diversion.
Matt Leinart
I liked him coming out of college and thought he never got a fair shake in Arizona, so I’m kinda rooting for him (even though I think he’s kinda a doofus).
Carolina v. Indianapolis
I think the colts might actually win their first game. Probably not though.
Patriots v. Eagles
The Eagles can be great, or awful, depending on the week and their menstrual cycle. If their defense can play well, this game could be fun to watch. Of course, if they lose, it could be the nail in their coffin.
A good slate of games this weekend. With the playoff run starting, it should be an interesting time.
Unless it is a classy move to give Orton a shot at getting on with another team, I think it’s stupid. With Schaub, Kolb, Cutler, and other QB’s injured, it seems he would have some value, even if it is just a 7th rounder. I don’t get it.
ESPN is confirming and claims that only 2.5 million is left on Orton’s contract this year. Any chance the Bears would want him back or would be be a better stop gap fit for the Texan’s?
Peter King just posted something about Goodell talking about going to more Thursday games next year. I think a good idea would be to go to 16, so every team plays once on a Thursday, and set up the schedule so teams always get their bye the week before their Thursday game. This way you avoid the short week.
So for instance, teams playing on thanksgiving would have a schedule like:
Week 10: Play Sunday Nov 13
Week 11: Bye
Week 12: Play Thursday Nov 24
Week 13: Play Sunday Dec 4
I was thinking much the same. Lovie obviously knows Orton, though he hasn’t played in Martz’s offense. Of the two (Houston and Chicago), the Bears obviously have a bigger need for a QB with some level of starting experience.
I would assume that the Texans are pretty content with Leinart since he’s been there for a couple seasons and has a pedigree. They obviously thought highly enough of him to bring him back. They might also be behind the Bears in the waiver priority as they have the same record, not sure what the tie breakers are.
The Bears were very hesitant to include Orton in the Cutler trade. They wanted very much to keep him around as a backup. That however was pre-Martz and Martz has had virtually complete control over the QB position since he’s been here. Lovie and Angelo think reasonably highly of Orton and they like his personality and professionalism. But, the Bears are pretty cheap and $2.5M isn’t chump change for 6 games if they have no confidence in his ability to adopt Martz’s system. It’ll probably come down to a debate between the expensive option in Orton or the cheaper option in JT O’Sullivan who’s played in Martz’s system before. As much as me and others rag on the Bears frugality, I doubt they’d balk at the price in this case and I suspect O’Sullivan would still probably get close to a $1M himself. Collin’s got that much last season when Hanie got hurt admittedly for more games.
Orton on the Bears has amazing potential. They play at Denver in week 14, for one thing. For another, their remaining schedule is 5 completely winnable games, plus Green Bay on Christmas. Can you imagine if Orton somehow ran the table? Playoff QB controversy I say!
Hmm, if you were in the Lion’s front office would you bother to cut a “wink wink” deal with some team with higher waver priority than the Bears, something like "after the season tell us someone you’re going to cut before the draft and we’ll trade you a 7th rounder for him if you claim Orton?
Some interesting news coming across Twitter on Orton and the Bears.
[ul]
[li]Orton asked to be released by the Broncos specifically because of Cutler’s injury. He is hoping to return to them. [/li][li]Orton has the same agent as JT O’Sullivan who the Bears have been in contact with. [/li][li]The Bears have not worked out any QBs as of yet. [/li][li]Bears are number 30 in the Waiver order. Behind the Texans and ahead of only the Niners and Packers[/li][li]Speculation is that the Bears will not put in a claim on Orton, but will instead negotiate a deal with him should he clear waivers on the assumption that neither the Packers or Niners would make a claim and that Orton would choose the Bears over anyone else. [/li][/ul]
Very interesting news and so long as none of the middling teams see him as worth claiming/paying it could be a done deal. That said, I’m a little worried that someone like the Dolphins, Chiefs or Cardinals could try and snap him up.
ETA: It’s pretty heavily implied that the Bears may have encouraged Orton’s agent to call the Broncos and get this rolling. Reading between the lines, I doubt Orton would have asked to be released had he not been assured that the Bears were interested. On the flipside, there could be a bit of a back room deal where the Bears will claim him and eat the remaining salary to save the Broncos from paying him even if tactically it makes no sense.
I have an NFL rules question that doesn’t warrant it’s own thread. We all know that a game can not end on a defensive penalty, if a defender commits a foul as time expires there will be an untimed down to finish the game. But can a game end on offsetting penalties?
The last play of last Sundays Browns-Jags game it looked to me like a Jacksonville receiver less than flagrantly grabbed Browns CB Joe Haden’s jersey using it as leverage to gain better position to get to a ball thrown a bit behind him. A Jags fan friend of mine pointed out that on the same play Haden’s right hand was also less than flagrantly holding onto the receivers hand about the same time the ball arrived. Now neither of these drew a flag but it could be argued that either or both could/should have (and we did argue). But neither of us were sure if both of those would have been called, would there have been another play?
